System and method of forming an ultrasound spatial compound image

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method of forming a spatial compound image by compounding frames, wherein the frames are obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals along scan lines having different directions from frame to frame, and wherein at least one frame is formed from first scan lines parallel to each other and second scan lines not parallel to each other and originate from one point.

1 . A system of forming an ultrasound spatial compound image by compounding a plurality of frames, the system comprising: 
 a transducer array having a number of transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals along a number of scan lines for forming each of the frames;    a beamformer for delaying and summing the ultrasound signals to produce frame data of each of the frames; and    a compounding unit for forming an ultrasound spatial compound image by compounding the frames,    wherein the transducers transmit and receive the ultrasound signals along scan lines having different directions from frame to frame, and wherein at least one frame is formed from first scan lines parallel to each other and second scan lines not parallel to each other and originating from an end point on the transducer array.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second scan lines are denser than the first scan lines.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the frames include a main frame, at least one first peripheral frame and at least one second peripheral frame, wherein the main frame is formed from scan lines parallel to each other, and wherein each of the first and second peripheral frames is formed from the first scan lines and the second scan lines.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the first scan lines of the first peripheral frame are symmetric to the first scan lines of the second peripheral frame with respect to the scan lines of the main frame, and wherein the second scan lines of the first peripheral frame are symmetric to the second scan lines of the second peripheral frame with respect to the scan lines of the main frame.  
   
   
       5 . A method of forming an ultrasound spatial compound image by compounding a plurality of frames, the method comprising: 
 (a) transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals along a number of scan lines for forming each of the frames;    (b) delaying and summing the ultrasound signals to produce frame data of said each frame; and    (c) forming the ultrasound spatial compound image by compounding the frames,    wherein in the step (a) the ultrasound signals are transmitted and received along scan lines having different directions from frame to frame, and wherein at least one frame is formed from first scan lines parallel to each other and second scan lines not parallel to each other and originating from one point.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second scan lines are denser than the first scan lines.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the frames include a main frame, at least one first peripheral frame and at least one second peripheral frame, wherein the main frame is formed from scan lines parallel to each other, and wherein each of the first and second peripheral frames is formed from the first scan lines and the second scan lines.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first scan lines of the first peripheral frame are symmetric to the first scan lines of the second peripheral frame with respect to the scan lines of the main frame, and wherein the second scan lines of the first peripheral frame are symmetric to the second scan lines of the second peripheral frame with respect to the scan lines of the main frame.